


Stargazing

by out_there



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-17
Updated: 2008-10-17
Packaged: 2017-10-09 16:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/out_there/pseuds/out_there
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you follow the line straight down, there's bright white star," Alex says, leaning a little closer. "That's the centre of Orion. The row of stars is his belt, the white star is the edge of his sword. He's supposed to be a hunter."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/sdwolfpup/profile)[**sdwolfpup**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/sdwolfpup/) (and [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/aurora_84/profile)[**aurora_84**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/aurora_84/), I suppose) asked for Michael &amp; Alex stargazing. Set directly after 4.06 "Blow Out".

The last glow of dusk is fading from the horizon when Michael finds Alex out on the warehouse roof. Alex has his arms folded against the cool breeze; the pale blue of his shirt cuffs are pushed up to his elbows.

Michael walks up beside him, but Alex doesn't look over, doesn't say a thing. Eventually, Michael asks, "You okay?"

Alex hugs his arms closer to his chest, but he keeps watching the violet-bruised sky. "Close enough."

Michael nods. It's been a long day for all of them, but Alex is the one who spent hours in a cell, who faced Wyatt from the other side of a courtroom. Michael doesn't expect him to be okay. "Any way I can help?"

Alex shakes his head. Still doesn't look at Michael, doesn't acknowledge him, but he doesn't ask Michael to leave either.

Zipping up his jacket, Michael thinks of something to say. He knows from his childhood, from Linc, that words aren't always important. It's not about saying the right thing, it's about saying something, anything. "You know, I never learned the constellations."

Alex drags in a shaky breath and Michael wonders if he should have said something else, something not linked to his son, not connected to loss and grief. Then Alex shrugs and says, "Most of them are pretty easy."

"Not too hard to learn?"

"Nah."

Possibly Michael shouldn't ask, but he can't resist the opportunity. "What was the first one you learned? The first one you remembered?"

There's a pause as Alex looks away, across the dark, moving water, and then Alex takes a shuffling step backwards. Michael stays still, waits to see if Alex will leave, and he's surprised by Alex's hand landing on his shoulder.

"Look up," Alex says, behind and to the side of Michael. He keeps one hand on Michael's shoulder, uses the other to point to first glimmering stars in the sky. "There's a line of three blue stars. See it?"

Michael nods and keeps his eyes fixed on the spot.

"If you follow the line straight down, there's bright white star," Alex says, leaning a little closer. "That's the centre of Orion. The row of stars is his belt, the white star is the edge of his sword. He's supposed to be a hunter."

It's like a kid's activity book, playing follow the dots with the stars. If Michael imagines the stars as reference points, imagines the lines linking them... "The two stars lower down, there and there," Michael says, pointing, "those are his feet?"

"His knees. And his shoulders are up the top." Alex moves Michael's hands to point to them, adding, "The red one is Betelgeuse. And between them, a little higher, is Meissa, Orion's head, but it's not dark enough to see it yet."

"Okay."

"It's one of the clearest constellations in the sky, so it's an easy one to find. It's the first one I taught--" Alex goes silent, but Michael hears him swallow. Alex pulls his hands back, crosses them over his chest again, muttering, "It's the easiest one to spot."

Michael turns, reaches out for Alex's hand. He doesn't pull Alex's wrist free but settles his palm over the hard curves of knuckles, brushes his thumb across skin. He leaves the foot of space between them, doesn't want to crowd Alex, but Michael needs Alex to know he's holding on. No matter what happens or how bad it gets, he's not letting go.

Alex says, "Some other time," and then frowns, meets Michael's gaze. "I'll take you stargazing some other time. Somewhere dark enough to see them."

Michael wants to say that where they are right now seems dark enough, but he's pretty sure Alex already knows. Instead, he gives Alex's hand one last squeeze and pulls his hand back. "I'll look forward to it."


End file.
